“Saint Sava” Church

The church was built in 1625 by seneschal Ioan Caragea on the site of the 1583 foundation of Voivode Petru Șchiopul. It is a unique building in Romania, through its mix of architectural elements spanning from Byzantine (the door frame and the pointed arches), Gothic (the door frame and the ogee arches), Moldavian (the stone profile of the socle), to Wallachian (the exterior middle brick frieze). In the past, the monastery hosted a Princely Academy, a library, a printing press, and a college. Inside there is the chest with fragments of Saints Trifon and Marina’s relics. The church was recently embellished with Neo-Byzantine frescoes, integrating some large al secco Renaissance paintings from 1832. The porch features scenes of the life of Saint Sava, and the steeple above hosts the parochial museum. (PHOTO : Mihai BULAI)